Directions : Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the correct/most appropriate option.
Love came to Flora asking for a flower
That would of flowers be undisputed queen,
The lily and the rose, long, long had been
Rivals for that high honor. Bards of power
Had sung their claims. ‘The rose can never tower
Like the pale lily with her Juno mien’ –
‘But is the lily lovelier ?’ Thus between
Flower-factions rang the strife in Psyche’s bower.
‘Give me a flower delicious as the rose
And stately as the lily in her pride’ –
‘But of what colour ?’ – ‘Rose-red’, Love first chose,
Then prayed, ‘No, lily-white – or, both provide;’
And Flora gave the lotus, ‘rose-red’ dyed,
And ‘lily-white’, the queenliest flower that blows.
Identify the poetic devices in Line 1 and Line 10.
Correct Answer :
personification, simile
Solution :
The correct option is personification, simile.
Let's analyze the poetic devices used in Line 1 and Line 10 of the poem:
Line 1: "Love came to Flora asking for a flower"
In this line, Love is given human attributes and actions (coming to Flora and asking for a flower). Giving human qualities, actions, or emotions to abstract concepts, ideas, or non-human things is called personification.
Line 10: "And stately as the lily in her pride"
In this line, a direct comparison is made using the word "as" to describe stateliness by comparing it to the lily ("stately as the lily"). A figure of speech that directly compares two different things using comparison words such as "like" or "as" is called a simile.
Therefore, the poetic devices in Line 1 and Line 10 are personification and simile respectively.
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